Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee, criticized the U.S. Justice Department for refusing to defend the ACA in court, according to The Hill.

The Justice Department will not defend the ACA in a lawsuit led by 20 Republican-led states that argues the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions is unconstitutional because of the repeal of the individual mandate.

"There's no way Congress is going to repeal protections for people with pre-existing conditions who want to buy health insurance " Mr. Alexander told the The Hill.

Mr. Alexander said that while Republican lawmakers wanted to repeal the individual mandate, it was never their goal to end the law's other protections.

"Congress specifically repealed the individual mandate penalty, but I didn't hear a single senator say that they also thought they were repealing protections for people with pre-existing conditions," Mr. Alexander said, according to The Hill.